


Late Summer Night's Fall

by necle



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, minor spoilers to the latest season but its possible to blink and miss, will add characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 13:33:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11875554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necle/pseuds/necle
Summary: Not all secrets stay hidden.





	Late Summer Night's Fall

He awakened to the distant buzzing of cicadas and the sharp stinging on his face. His body felt heavy with fatigue, his consciousness dangerously drifting away. He opened his eyes, only for his vision to be overwhelmed with intense bright light. He quickly shuts them and shields his eyes with his arm but the damage had already been done. Warm, bright colors pulsed in the corners of his vision, unwilling to yield to the state of darkness that once was there. A few more seconds pass in his unsuccessful attempt before he gives up, slowly opening his eyes and removing his arm off his head.

It takes a minute, but his eyes adjust to the harsh, orange light. The evening sunset had filled in the room, showing the mostly barren interior, aside for a small shelf and a high-rise table on the opposite side. He realized he was lying on a futon with a blanket covering over him, his clothes clinging to his body from sweat. He realizes that he was not at home.

His ears picked up the sound of continuous shuffling papers, drawing his eyes to the man knelt beside him. His distinct appearance resounded a strange familiarity that Natume could not place. The man's attention was occupied by the book he is flipping through; one that resembled a large notepad. It was foreign to watch the familiar object in the hands of another, but the boy was too tired to understand why (or why his heartrate was rising upon the sight).

"Ah, you're awake." the man observed and drew his attention away from the book, the pages stop flipping consequently.

Natsume looked up dazedly, his racing thoughts struggling to formulate a sentence. "Where....I-" he hoarsely starts before he begins to choke. The words felt coarse and scratched his parched throat, like stones rolling down a steep ocean cliff. He swallows a bit of saliva in weak attempt to soothe it before he tries again. "Why-"

"You were being strangled by an ayakashi." the man answered plainly, the question understood before it left his mouth.

Images of the incident flickered into Natsume's memory, none that flowed continuously but did not contradict nonetheless. "My men and I was nearby so we helped."

Nothing new came to mind, so Natsume tiredly concluded he had lost consciousness before then. His hand absentmindedly drifted to where he felt the sharp pain was coming from, only for his fingers to feel the cold surface of a bandage.

"Cuts and scratches," the man filled in once again, "You ingested some toxins as well. You will feel sore and disoriented for a while, but your injuries have been attended to. Someone will be coming to pick you up shortly."

Unsure as to what to make of all of this, the boy could only stare up at the ceiling again, hoping his conflicting emotions wouldn't surface. He didn't know where to begin: the information that was shared, the man's hospitality, what his instincts had suggested otherwise. It did not help that his body and mind were completely unwilling to cooperate. Deciding rest might sever the intensity, he tried once again to let go the heaviness of his eyelids, somewhat more used to the light. Feelings returned like waves, both crashing in and receding out of his body. His head was starting to spin.

"Still, this is quite the strange book you have. It seems to be filled with nothing but scribbles" he heard the man continue, the sound of pages flipping resumed until the soft thud of the back cover ended the action.

Natsume peeked from his eyes to look at the book once more and the torrent in his mind settled for a moment. Soon, recognition clicked and the boy's eyes widen involuntarily.

"The Book of Friends. What a peculiar title." More blocks fell into place. He struggled to move; to say something. But fatigue seized control again before the words came, keeping any movement at bay.

Something quickly darted into the room, though Natsume made no attempt as to see what. Muffled, incomprehensible whispers filled the silence. Then as soon as it came, it darted back out the room. Matoba-san stood up and walked back to the table. There was some shuffling followed with soft thud before the book was placed down. He walked towards the exit.

"Natori has arrived." Matoba-san informed before he closed the door.

* * *

"Stop worrying. The brat's too dumb to figure it out," a nasally voice reminded him, speaking in his feline form.

Natsume leaned against the door inside Natori-san's car. His vision would blur with the passing scenery, barely making out the surrounding forest through the dense fog. His mind was still hazy, but he was aware enough to process the events that had just occurred.

When Natsume had become conscious enough to recognize the bodyguard and actor in the room, he requested to depart immediately. Brushing off their concerns by citing the concerns of his foster parents, they gave a curt thanks before leaving the Matoba manor. 

He was absentmindedly tugging the band of his seatbelt, which had been aligned to straps of his bag. The fortune cat sat in the far opposite end, complaining about an exorcist-like odor that reeked from him and his possessions.

Natori-san was mostly preoccupied on driving, giving the occasional hum to acknowledge Natsume's responses. Natori-san had explained that there was an exorcist meeting which both he and the Matoba-san had attended, though he left several minutes before he received the phone call. He ran into his bodyguard near the entrance and the rest played out accordingly. It was sufficient enough prompt for Natsume to give an explanation of his own, even if it wasn't completely coherent.

"Was chased here...by youkai pack,"

"Saved by...a large one."

"Asked for his name...so I returned it."

"But also wanted the Book for themselves."

"Tried to fight but...Was overpowered."

"Then something shot it and was killed."

"Felt something struck me and was overwhelmed by an awful smell, I soon passed out."

"How long...?"

"When did he..."

"Did he see it...?"

Mumbles would escape his lips, stating a new speculation will fall on one of two sides.

"Natori-san, what do you think?" he finally asks at one point, his voice very soft but audible. It hurt to try more than that.

"I don't know" the actor replied, avoiding his gaze as he looked at his side mirrors. The car had stopped at an intersection but much of the roads ahead was still hidden by the fog. "He didn't mention it when we were talking but," the final beat from the turn signal before the car turned left on a road, "Either way, the cat might be right. Even if he did see, he might have not able to put the pieces together that quickly". As if knowing the statement brought little reassurance, he added "Regardless, there is no point of worrying about it"  

"Mmm," Natsume responded quietly, complacent with the response. His eyes weren't still able to focus, and he was feeling so exhausted. The grip on his bag’s strap tightened as he shifts his free hand to where the closed pouch was.

The tension depleted over the next several of days when nothing ended up happening. There had been no follow up from Matoba. Nothing weird happened with the book. No additional word about from Madara, who would leave the house from time to time, but his days were mostly the same. He would still have incidents involving youkai. Nothing atypical to the ones he normally encountered. And when the dreaded request to return a name finally came up, it ended with a collective sigh of relief as it went without incident.

Soon, the passing days turned into weeks, then weeks turned into a couple of months. Only a handful names were returned at that point and by then, the incident slunk away into the corners of his mind.  

Heading home after finishing an errand for Touko-san, Natsume saw a youkai approach him. Its head resembled that of a leek and their meek stature and pleading eyes implied a request. Another name to be returned. As normal.

With the middle-aged cat complaining nearby, they headed towards the usual spot under the bridge, outside the easy view for both humans and youkai.

He began the chant. The words fell easily from his lips, his hands smoothly going through the motions they had done so for so many times. After a tear from the book, his breath seamlessly fused power into the words on the page.

Suddenly, sparks began to fly from the paper and Natsume felt something strange course through him. Something zipped into his peripheral and what looked like a bolt struck it. White sparks emitted from the source as it shredded it to pieces. The charred shreds descended very slowly in midair, as if time slowed down gravity's pull. Within a few seconds, a couple more similar pieces shot out, though completely un-tattered and whole. Worn paper and a pointed top, it was clear it was a paper doll. The broken pieces were attracted to it like a magnet before and pulled straight to the air in a direction and out of sight. Natsume had been too stunned to move but Madara wasted no time tailing it. 

Snapping out of it, Natsume looked at the ayakashi. He looked unharmed, though similarly startled as he was.

"Are you alright?" Natsume asked.

The ayakashi turned to him, beady eyes boring into his. "I'm ok. Just a little surprised." They stared up into the sky. "I didn’t expect to see such a thing."

Neither did he. Natsume got up and dusted himself of the ground. After excusing himself, he made a dash back his house. 

His body was on autopilot as he took the forest route back to his house. His mind was racing with thoughts. _What was that? Why was it even in the book?_   He stumbled on a root but quickly managed to get footing on the trail.

There were several crumbled pieces, but the one piece.

As he reached the entrance of his house, he was grateful to not see Touko-san by the front. Taking one more look behind him in case he was being followed, Natsume rushed inside the house and grabbed the phone book.

He hurriedly dialed the number before placing the phone book down. One foot tapped incessantly as he anxiously waited for a response. One ring. Two rings. Three rings, it goes to voice mail.

He hesitated for a moment before he placed the phone down. He had forgotten Natori-san would disconnect his phone often (or maybe he was out). He had his cell number somewhere in his room but what if it really was him.

No, there was something different about those dolls. The head had been pointed rather than the usual chiseled tip. But there was no one else he knew that could use the paper dolls, unless-

There was a familiar whirl of wind and Natsume turned to see Madara before him. Teeth gnashed, the white beast looked furious.

"It was him," he snarled, "the Matoba brat knows"

* * *

Oh man. You don't know how long I've been procrastinating and making excuses to myself to not posting this. The anime has caught up & long finished though and I had a scare losing all stuff to a coffee spill.

I apologize for the lack of summary but I didn't know how to write one that didn't give the first chapter away. This was originally going to be a one-shot but it got really too long. (and the story went a much different direction anyways). Regardless, would love to hear your thoughts and feedback as always.


End file.
